Contacting the press and embarking on a book tour are part of your publicity campaign, but there are other ways to drum up excitement for your book launch.

As an author, when planning a publicity campaign, you probably think about contacting the press a few months before you launch a new book or embark on a book tour. But there are a lot of other ways to get press and blog coverage for your writing besides the usual book tour and book launch publicity campaign.

Here are just a few newsworthy events in your literary life that journalists and bloggers might be interested in covering.

1. When you start writing a new book

Your existing readership will be excited to hear about a new book project in the works. And that means a blog or print publication that covers literary news or your topic of choice (for non-fiction books) stands to gain some new readers by announcing that you’re starting a new book. So put a press release together, or even an informal email with all the relevant details, and send it to some journalists and bloggers you think will be interested.

Things to tell the press:

What your book is about

What inspired the book

What’s different about this book from your previous work

What you’ve accomplished so far with the writing (how far along are you in the book, how is the process unfolding, etc.)

2. When you’re deep into the writing

Think about it: every time George R.R. Martin makes an announcement about how many words he’s written for the sixth Song of Ice and Fire book, the internet explodes! If he can get that much press, you can certainly get ONE story written saying you’re halfway done with your book.
Let the press know how things are shaping up.

Things that bloggers may want you to provide:

Details on how it’s going and how many pages/words you’ve written

Tentative book title

An excerpt

3. When you finish writing your book

Here’s the logical follow-up to the previous two items: a big announcement saying “I’m done with my book.”

This gives you another chance to share details about the project, and any supporting content (videos of you in your writing space, photos, etc.). Plus, you can set some expectations about when the book will hit stores.

4. When you solidify your book title

The book title reveal will be exciting for your readers.. And again, it’s a great opportunity for blogs and print publications to attract some new readers with a quick story about your upcoming — and now NAMED — book.

What to tell the press:

A few essential details about your career

The most interesting sound bite about the new book

How the title reflects the topic, events, or characters in your book

5. When you finalize your book cover

This is always another fun reveal. I love seeing the covers for soon-to-be-launched books by my favorite authors and poets. When pitching this story to the press, provide similar info to your book title announcement, but perhaps include a few words about the design, the designer, and what it signifies about the book.

Hopefully this gives you some new PR ideas. I’m sure I missed quite a few, so please leave your own book publicity ideas in the comments below.

About Chris Robley

Chris Robley has written 562 posts in this blog.

Chris Robley is an award-winning poet, songwriter, performer, and music producer who now lives in Portland, Maine after more than a decade in Portland, Oregon. His music has been praised by NPR, the LA Times, the Boston Globe, and others. Skyscraper Magazine said he is “one of the best short-story musicians to come along in quite some time.” Robley’s poetry has been published or is forthcoming in POETRY, Prairie Schooner, Poetry Northwest, Beloit Poetry Journal, RHINO, Magma Poetry, and more. He is the 2013 winner of Boulevard's Poetry Prize for Emerging Writers and the 2014 recipient of a Maine Literary Award in the category of "Short Works Poetry."

Another thing I’ve seen that seems to get people excited is when you give your readers a chance to help name the book (provide a list of three or four titles you like and ask them to vote) or a choice of two different covers. When people feel they’ve taken part in your process, they’re naturally more invested in the outcome. Great list and thanks for bringing up the topic.